1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to baking assemblies. More specifically, the invention relates to baking assemblies that cook food items that have been prepared to be baked with a batter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Food items, such as hotdogs, are sometimes prepared by covering the food item in a batter and then dipping it into a deep fryer to fry the food item. Corndogs are typical of this cooking process where the hotdog is placed in a corn batter and then dipped into a deep fryer where the hotdog and the batter are cooked.
Using these types of cooking methods is prohibitive in the home environment because so much oil needs to be heated in order to cook the food that it takes too much time and wastes too much oil for the quantities of food being prepared and consumed in the home environment. Therefore, there is a need to have the ability to prepare such foods in the home environment without requiring the use of vast quantities of oil.
One product produced to provide baked food items that are covered in a batter is produced by Gold Medal Products Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. This company produces a Waffle Dog Baker, part number 5044. This Waffle Dog Baker includes two large plates that have recesses therein to receive hotdogs in batter. When the food and batter are placed in the recesses in the lower plate, an upper plate is pivoted down onto the lower plate. After a certain amount of time, the two plates are pivoted about an axis to allow the batter to flow to the other side and into the cavity of what was the upper plate. This system is a large unit, which would not be desirable to place on any kitchen counter. In addition, the unit becomes very hot and the rotation of the two plates about its axis tends to cause injury. Further, because the plates are rotated about an axis midway through the back side, sticks that are used to hold the hotdogs being baked are broken off if the Waffle Dog Baker is rotated in one of the two directions that it is designed to rotate. Broken sticks easily cause splinters and do not allow the consumer the ability to hold the newly baked corndog a sufficient distance away from the heated food item, which causes discomfort.